The Missing Gate
by Rluhn
Summary: When Kagome sees everything she loves has been crushed, she finds comfort in the last place that she would have expected.
1. The Beginning

**Historian's Note:** This story takes place after chapter 558, or the last episode in the series; Inuyasha- the Final Act.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.

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_**Chapter One **_

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Kagome looked around the small, open field after climbing out of the well near Keade's village. It was silent with the exception of birds chirping, and squirrels and rabbits running through the brush. Usually she would have been greeted by Inuyasha, but he seemed to be nowhere around. Convinced he was probably off fighting a demon, Kagome made her way to the village alone.

As she approached the village, she noticed something was wrong. There was no pitter-patter of children's feet running about, or farmers tending to the crops. She couldn't see anybody at all. She started to get worried and quickly made her way to her hut. Looking inside revealed no one. She went to all of her friend's houses; same thing. _What the hell is going on?_ Kagome ran through every part of the village and to no avail; the village was disserted.

Night began to fall over the empty houses as Kagome sat alone in front of a fire pit, waiting for at least one person to return. The silent tapping of rain hitting the roof urged Kagome to stand and walk to the door. She moved the curtain to the side with her hands, still hoping that maybe once she looked outside she would see people in the distance, coming into the village. She saw nothing but thunder clouds rolling over her, and trees swaying in the wind. _Maybe I should go look for someone. _Kagome put a clenched hand up to her mouth, biting her finger, concerned.

Without another thought, she quickly packed up a bag. She grabbed everything she felt was vital to her travels; water, food, extra clothing, medicinal herbs, and a variety of other items. She took how her umbrella and opened it up before stepping outside. It wasn't long after she started following a small dirt path, that she disappeared into the dense forest.

* * *

-break-

* * *

Sesshomaru fought his way up out of a troubling dream and stared at the ceiling for a moment trying to remember the dream and why it had upset him, before the hard, repeated knocking on his front door registered on his consciousness.

The room was dark, almost unnervingly so. Sesshomaru threw his legs over the side of the bed, and reached over to his bedside table to grab and light a single candle. He walked over to the door and opened it only slightly to reveal his small human ward.

"Rin, what is the meaning of this?"

"I'm sorry Sesshomaru-sama, but I heard something banging on my window and it scared me, and I just..."

Without listening to another word, Sesshomaru quickly wound through the twisting hallways of his castle, eventually ending up in Rin's bedroom. He looked over at the window and saw nothing. "There's nothing there Rin."

"But Sesshomaru-sama" She grabbed onto his pants leg and pointed at the window. "I swear there's something there!"

Slightly glaring, the rather annoyed dog demon walked to the window and opened it, sticking his head outside to again, see nothing but a tree branch rapping on the wall. Sighing, he broke it up quickly with one swipe of his claws.

"Is it gone?"

"There should be no more noises, Rin. Now go to sleep." He patted her on the head and started to make his way back to his room, only to be stopped by another annoyance.

"My lord, my lord!" said Jaken.

"What."

"It's A-Un my lord, he's seemed to have broken out of his stable and ran off."

Sesshomaru didn't even blink at Jaken's frantic display and continued to make his way to his room, where he was dead set on going back to sleep.

"Lord Sesshomaru, will you do nothing?" Jaken quickly waddled in front of Sesshomaru, being careful to not get stepped on. "He must have betrayed you my lord" He shook his small fists as he concentrated on the ground, not noticing that Sesshomaru passed him and continued to walk down the halls. "That ungrateful beast, I knew I was the only one truly faithful to you my lord." Jaken looked up. To his surprise, Sesshomaru was no longer in front of him. He looked around franticly, and only saw Sesshomaru's shadow fading out of view. "Ah, my lord, please wait for me!" He scurried to catch up with him, also fading into the darkness of the castle.

* * *

-break-

* * *

Kagome sat next to a large riverbed, gathering water and cleaning her hands and feet free from mud and dirt. She looked up into the sky, the warmth of the sun shone down on her making her smile. Breaking the serine moment, she heard a silent growl and placed her hands over her stomach. _I guess I should eat something. _She pulled her bag closer and opened it, digging around for something to eat. _Now I know I have something…ah! Here it is._ She took a sandwich out of her bag, unwrapped its paper covering and began to eat.

Before she could finish her meal, she heard the loud footsteps of something coming out of the forest. _Oh no, it's probably a demon. _Acting quickly, she grabbed her things and jumped into a nearby bush, concealing herself from whatever monster was about to appear out of the forest. She held her bow and arrows close to her chest, having them just as a precaution, but not afraid to use them on anything might try to attack her, be it human, or demon.

As she focused on the area she heard the footsteps coming from, the presence revealed itself, and Kagome was quite surprised, but no longer afraid. She stood up from the brush, dusting off the foliage and dirt that clung to her kimono, and walked towards the visitor.

"You're one of Onii-san's followers. I can't seem to remember your name though…" She thought to herself for a second and then looked around. "Wait, are you here by yourself? Where's Sesshomaru? Or that annoying little toad thing that follows him everywhere for that matter, he's usually with you." Kagome grabbed A-Un's reigns and petted his heads.

_I can't sense the presence of anyone else, what's going on? Did Sesshomaru disappear with everyone else as well? _Without wanting to waist anytime, Kagome climbed onto A-Un's back and leaned forward. "Can you take me to Sesshomaru-sama, please?" A-Un grunted and instantly took off into the sky.

It seemed like forever to Kagome, as they flew over forest after forest, mountain after mountain. _Why would Inuyasha have traveled so far off, what's so important…? _The thoughts of what could have happened to him started to get to her. _What if he was taken away or something killed him, what if he found someone else…_ Her face dropped, tears welled up in her eyes and fell off her face one by one. She didn't make a noise, or even clench her eyes shut. Her face looked as if it were frozen, and her eyes, melting at the very thought of losing the one closest to her.

After about five hours of flying, A-Un finally touched down right outside a small village. Curious, Kagome jumped down from A-Un's back and stretched, rubbing her numb butt. "I bet you're hungry." Kagome looked up at the beast, which seemed to grunt in response. She threw her hand into her bag and dug around once more for some greens to give to A-Un as a thank you treat. She knew it wasn't much, so she told him to go find food in the forest and wait for her. He gave a nod and wondered off as instructed.

Griping the sash of her bag tightly, she hurriedly walked though the small village, asking everyone she could if they had seen Inuyasha. Nobody knew, until one woman pointed her in a direction; down by the ocean shore.

After a few moments, she found herself on the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean, casting beautiful rays of orange, pink, and violet into the clouds and onto the water's surface. Though she methodically scanned both the beach, and as far out into the ocean as she could see, she saw no sign of Inuyasha. She let out a deep sigh "Well he has to be somewhere," she hung her head and wiped away a single tear "I probably came all this way for nothing."

Without hope, Kagome made her way back up to the village and found a small inn at which to rest until morning. She laid out her futon, dressed herself in her pajamas, and was about to lay down for sleep when she heard thumping in the room next to her own. Thinking nothing of it, she continued to make herself comfortable, but again was disturbed by more thumping, this time accompanied by shouting.

Kagome couldn't bare the racket in the other room, she wrapped a robe around herself, got up and went into the hallway, knocking on her neighbor's door. A woman's voice quickly accompanied her knocking, sounding extremely displeased, "Go away!" Then continued to yell at whoever was in her room with her.

She knocked again. The woman yelling stopped, and Kagome could hear her walking over to the sliding door and watched as she opened it.

"What!" she spit her words at Kagome.

"If you please don't mind, keeping it down, there are some people trying to sleep ya'know." Kagome's face was blank, not wanting to get overemotional. Curious, Kagome glanced behind the woman to see if she could see who she was screaming at.

It was a man; long, fair hair, bright red garments made up of a kosode, a hakama bloused at the ankles obi. Though Kagome could not see the man's face she knew instantly who it was. Pushing the woman aside she ran into the room and grabbed the man's shoulder, spinning him around quickly "Inuyasha!" Her excitement ended quickly when she looked into the man's eyes; it was not Inuyasha.

"Excuse me miss, do I know you?" The man held a look of confusion on his face.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"I see. I apologize if we were causing you any distress, I'll try to keep my wife quiet." He stood up and led her out of the room. Kagome bowed in thanks, and walked back into her own room.

Sliding the door closed behind her, she ran her hands through her hair, throwing her head back, exasperated.

"Kagome," a familiar voice rang out in the silence of her room, immediately catching her attention. She looked up to see a dark figure standing in front of the window. "I've been looking for you."


	2. An Unexpected Following

**_Chapter 2_**

* * *

"Jaken" Sesshomaru looked down at him, glaring.

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Go find A-Un."

"Wouldn't it be faster if you were to look for him my lord? I-I mean, you can fly, my lord…" Jaken trembled, his arms over his head, and waited for Sesshomaru firm foot to find his face. Sesshomaru said nothing, and continued to look out over the cliff face, watching large thunder cloud roll over the distant mountains.

Taking a hint, Jaken turned around and started his way into the forest.

"After you find A-Un, Jaken, go back to the castle and take care of Rin."

"But my lord!"

Sesshomaru's glare shot daggers into Jaken, and he immediately regretted opening his mouth. "Y-yes my lord." Jaken hung his head and then waddled into the forest to begin his search.

* * *

-break-

* * *

"K-Koga?" Kagome's eyes widened with surprise. She quickly ran up to him and embraced him in her arms. "I don't understand. Why are you here?"

"I've been looking for you, Kagome. I'm relieved to see you're alive." Koga continued to hold Kagome close to him, not wanting to let go.

"Alive? What do you mean?"

"Haven't you been in Keade's village? It's completely empty, but there's something weird about it all."

"How is it weird?"

"There's no trace of anybody. I couldn't even smell that filthy mutt of yours" Koga scowled "I couldn't smell any blood or sense any demon presence around either. It's like they just vanished." He looked deeply into Kagome's eyes and hugged her tightly once more.

"Has it only happened in Keade's village?"

Koga finally released Kagome from his grip "Yes, I haven't come across anywhere else like it."

Kagome frowned, "What can we do?"

"I don't know, Kagome, but I'm here for you." He caressed her face lightly with his fingers, and gently kissed her on the forehead.

"Koga…" Kagome's face turned red and she took a step back, feeling slightly perturbed.

"What's wrong Kagome?"

"It's just…" She turned her head to side, looking away.

"Just what?"

"You've never been so…passionate with me before. I'm married to Inuyasha, Koga, and it feels a bit…wrong for another man to act so close." Kagome scratched the back of her head, feeling ashamed. Koga was extremely attractive, and every moment she looked at him, she wished it were a moment she could be spending with Inuyasha, partaking in a more 'adult' activity. "Plus, you're married Ayame, what would that be saying to her, seeing you with me like this?"

Koga rolled his eyes and sneered at Kagome's observation. He went on to tell her how Ayame soon grew uninterested in their relationship and started a new wolf pack with another man. This hadn't surprised him as he was never truly engrossed in her, he just couldn't stand to listen to her bitch about the promise he made. The only woman he ever truly loved, and still does is Kagome. She was like a parasite in his brain. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get her out. He told her about the fantasies he had had about her, and how even if they didn't marry, he wants just wants one opportunity to realize those fantasies.

Koga embraced Kagome and passionately kissed her on the lips. She felt faint in his arms. Closing her eyes, she laid her hands on his chest, and kissed him back. She too has had surreptitious fantasies about the young wolf demon. It's not as if she had loved him, as he did her, but she at least wanted to experience the rush of being with a man that didn't conceal his feelings out of discomfiture; such as Inuyasha had done.

"I-I don't know what to say, Koga."

"You don't have to say anything."

"I really need to find Inuyasha, Koga. I'm sorry" She pulled away from him one more time "please, will you help me?"

His heart sank in his chest and he closed his eyes, sighing, wishing she wouldn't dote on that mutt of hers so much. "If it makes you happy Kagome, I'll do anything for you." He gave her a quick smile, and then looked out the window. "Still looks like it'll be awhile till morning."

"And I'm exhausted, do you mind if I catch a few hours rest?"

"Not at all" Koga shook his head, then jumped out the window and looked back at her once more "I'll be waiting out here for you in the morning." He started to make his way to a tree in the distance.

"Koga" Kagome lifted a hand to her mouth "um, would you mind, maybe…"

"Yes?" Koga smirked.

"I would really like it if you stayed in here with me…maybe." Kagome couldn't help but turn red, she knew it wasn't right, but she didn't want to be alone. Without saying a word, Koga came back into the room, took Kagome by the hand, and joined her under her blanket.

* * *

-break-

* * *

Jaken dragged his feet, feeling like no more than a mere errand boy, doing his masters bidding. This was in truth, all he was. He never felt he ever repaid his master for saving his life from that horrid demon, so even though he hated almost every moment of it, he did it for his lord, for whom he was forever grateful. Though nobody ever said he couldn't complain about Rin, and Sesshomaru's beast of burden; A-Un.

The hours seemed to drag on as Jaken fumbled through the brush, not really looking for A-Un, just wasting his time.

"Why did that stupid beast have to run off anyways? And why do I have to be the one to go out and find him? Sesshomaru-sama and I both know that it would be much easier and faster if he were to just fly around the valley. Sometimes I think he does this to toy with me." Jaken's mind wandered, imagining Sesshomaru playing with him like a puppet on strings as Sesshomaru laughed contemptuously. _No! Lord Sesshomaru would never use me as a mere puppet. I'm sure that I am just as important to Lord Sesshomaru as Rin is. _ At least, that's what Jaken hoped, but deep inside, he knew that he was nothing in the eyes of his great lord.

As Jaken thought to himself how he could be of more use to Sesshomaru, he didn't recognize how far he had walked, or where to, specifically, but one thing he did recognize were the large footprints left in the mud. He recognized them to be A-Un's footprints, and they seemed to be fresh.

"When I get my hands on that stupid beast, I'll make sure he'll never run off again." Jaken smirked, and then quickened his pace in attempt to catch up with the beast.

Jaken hastily approached a small river, but still didn't see any sight of A-Un. "Oh damn it all. Where could he have gotten off too? It's not like he could have gone very far." Feeling almost defeated, Jaken sighed and hung his head. What Jaken didn't know is that A-Un was nowhere around the footprints he had been following, but at that moment, he saw something unexpected coming down the river.

_Oh no, it's that horrible Inuyasha! If he sees me, I'll surely get beaten to a pulp. _Thinking quick, Jaken ducked into some nearby bushes and watched the hanyou floating down the river in a small boat. He soon noticed that Inuyasha wasn't alone on the boat; he appeared to be with a woman. _Who is that woman, surely that isn't Kagome, and it looks nothing like her. _Jaken listened carefully to their conversation, and tried getting a better look at the woman.

Finally Jaken heard Inuyasha speaking to the youthful woman, and what he heard, he did not believe. He swiftly ran off in the direction he came from, wanting to notify his lord of what he had just overheard.

* * *

-break-

* * *

Kagome awoke from her deep sleep. It was almost midday by the time she awoke, and Koga was nowhere to be found. She almost felt sad that she had woken up alone; she had grown used to having someone by her side, night after night.

Not worrying about the missing wolf demon, Kagome got ready for the day, and began to pack her things. It hadn't taken her long, since she didn't really unpack anything but her pajamas. After eating a simple apple for breakfast, she walked outside with her bag on her back and a smile on her face. Her smile quickly disappeared when she saw Koga sitting under a tree in front of the inn.

"Way to wake me up!"

Hearing Kagome, Koga looked up at her, his face turned red. "I-um, sorry, you seemed to tired last night, I wanted to make sure you got your rest." He rubbed the back of his head and stood up to greet her.

"That's ok, I guess. Could you please wake me up next time though?"

"Are you saying there will be a next time?" Koga approached Kagome, took her bag from her hands, and with his free hand, caressed one of her cheeks.

"I um…"

"It's ok Kagome, I'm just teasing you." Koga laughed. "We should get going. I caught a whiff of Inuyasha earlier this morning; he shouldn't be too far away."

Kagome wanted to find Inuyasha as soon as possible, and to do so, rode on Koga's back. It wasn't long before they ran into a familiar face.


	3. Heartbreak

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

Koga stopped, and let Kagome off his back.

"Hey, doesn't that thing belong to Sesshomaru?" Koga gestured at A-Un. Kagome nodded and ran up to the beast, wrapping her arms around one of his necks in a loving hug.

"He's the one that gave me a ride to the village when I started looking for Inuyasha. I found him down by the river a ways away. I'm sure he'll help us look for him some more, right?" Kagome looked at A-Un, who grunted in agreement. Kagome then grabbed Koga by the hand and they both climbed up on A-Un's back, but this time, A-Un didn't float into the sky like last time, instead he slowly walked through the forest until he came to a small path.

"Isn't he supposed to fly?" said Koga as he held an inquisitive look upon his face.

"Supposed to, I honestly don't know what he's up too." Kagome leaned forward "Where are you taking us?" A-Un grunted, but kept walking. The sound of rushing water came into earshot.

As A-Un stopped in his tracks, Kagome and Koga slid off his back, looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing exactly what was going on.

"There you are you stupid beast!"

Kagome cringed at the annoying voice that could only come from one little imp.

"Jaken?" She walked around to the opposite side of the A-Un, and sure enough saw Jaken waddling up to the beast with a disgruntled look plastered on his face.

"Kagome, what are you doing here? Did you steal A-Un from lord Sesshomaru's castle?"

"Castle? I didn't know Sesshomaru had such a thing…"

"Of course he does you impudent fool! He is a lord after all, unlike that unfaithful hanyou of yours." Jaken scoffed, and then climbed up onto A-Un's back, not gracefully one might add.

"Unfaithful" Kagome quickly grabbed A-Un's reigns from Jaken's hands to keep him from flying away "what are you talking about Jaken?"

"I saw that ill-mannered mutt on the river with another woman, I was about to report to Sesshomaru what I saw before you interrupted me." Jaken tugged at the reigns, trying to take them back from Kagome's vise grip, but failed. "Now let go of A-Un's reigns of nagging woman!"

Kagome glared, and without hesitation climbed back onto A-Un's back, and then looked back at Koga.

"Koga, you go on ahead, and see if you can find Inuyasha." In a flash, Koga was gone, and Kagome could see the dust trail leading all the way down to the river as she and Jaken followed in the sky.

It didn't take Koga long to spot the hanyou. He quickly jumped onto the small boat and clutched Inuyasha by his coat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, wolf boy!" Inuyasha screamed and tried pushing Koga away from him, but Koga was too furious to even think of letting go.

"Me? What about you! Who's this woman you're with! Why aren't you with Kagome you filthy mutt! I should rip off your head for betraying her!" Koga shook him back and forth.

Instead of becoming more angry and continuing to yell, Inuyasha instead sighed as his face fell with a look of anguish.

"You wouldn't understand, Koga. Just let it go."

"Wouldn't understand! Understand what exactly? That you left the most amazing girl in your life for some…" Koga looked over at the woman on the boat "for that!"

Not even realizing that Kagome was mere feet above him, the two continued to argue.

"The only reason I fell in love with Kagome was because she looked like Kikyo" Koga's grip loosened enough for Inuyasha to tug away from him "Now would u leave me alone?"

Koga was speechless, he knew Kagome was right above them, and he also knew she heard what Inuyasha just said. He jumped back to the shoreline, and watched as Inuyasha and the mystery woman slowly floated downstream. He looked up at Kagome, at least what he could see of her, he couldn't hear anything, but he knew she was crying. Some say that silent crying is always the most painful.

Before Koga could try and comfort her, she had stolen A-Un's reigns from Jaken and started to fly off. This didn't bother him as much as one might think, he knew she needed to think things through, and to do that, she needed to be alone. And she wasn't actually alone, Koga knew even though he was small, Jaken would protect her well.

"Bah! Kagome, what are you doing, give me A-Un's reigns at once!" Jaken reached for them, his small arms flailing. Kagome wiped her tears away and looked down at the little, green imp.

"I- I'm sorry Jaken" She handed him back the reigns "I just wanted to get away from there as soon as possible." Without saying a word, Jaken and Kagome continued their flight towards Sesshomaru's castle; Jaken's mission was finished after-all.

It hadn't taken them long to reach the castle, and Jaken couldn't sense his lord's presence anywhere nearby.

"So this is where you and Sesshomaru live?" They hopped down from A-Un's back, and without even needing instruction, A-Un walked himself to the stables to lie down. "So, where's Rin?" Kagome slowly followed next to Jaken as he waddled into the castle.

"She should be somewhere inside, most likely playing with one of the maids." Jaken looked up at her curiously "Why are you even here anyways? I know that half-breed is a disgrace to the honorable dog demon clan" Jaken firmly planted his staff on the ground "But what about the other's in Keade's village, why aren't you there?" They continued to walk and talk, as Kagome told him about her journey, and how everyone in the village seemed to disappear without a trace.

Inside the castle, Kagome was assigned one of the maids; she got new a room to herself, appropriate clothes to wear in front of Sesshomaru, and was shown activities she could partake in so as not to be bored.

Kagome sat down on her bed, dressed in a beautiful deep red kimono with a floral design, and sighed. She still hadn't seen Sesshomaru around the castle, despite already being there almost a week. She wondered what he could have been up to, and if he knew she was even in his castle. After that thought crossed her mind, she dreaded him coming in, only to kick her out by herself. _Surely he can't be that heartless._ She lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. Her bed was a kenso platform bed, instead of the usual shiki futon, which she found to be a nice change of pace.

As fast as she began to relax, she had to sit up. She heard Jaken's squabbling with some maids. As she tried to listen in, she heard him mention Sesshomaru, that couldn't only mean that he would be arriving soon.

One of the maids quickly rushed into her room, grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out into the front room where she was forced to bow in front of the entrance.

The front door slid open; Kagome could feel a slight breeze as Sesshomaru walked passed them, not saying a word. She blinked, expecting more of a welcoming since everyone seemed to make a big deal out of it.

As the other maids stood up, and seemed to just go back to work, she chased after Sesshomaru, wanting to get a rise out of him.

"You're my brother's wench. Why are you in my castle?" Sesshomaru spoke sternly yet calmly. Kagome felt nervous, and not yet over the incident with Inuyasha, she hesitated to respond.


End file.
